Winding apparatus



Aug. 18, 1970' L. c. COWAN 3,524,605

WINDING APPARATUS Filed March 18, 1968 '24 "Mail" m 0 82 442 3 s 36 4II A Mk III 1 FIG. I 70 4 86 7O INVENTOR. LARRY C. COWAN FlG.4 /T

ATTORNEYS United States Patent WINDING APPARATUS Larry C. Cowan, Jamestown, R.I., assignor to Leesona Corporation, Warwick, R.I., a corporation of Massachusetts Filed Mar. 18, 1968, Ser. No. 713,650 Int. Cl. B65h 49/ 02; D03j 5/08 US. Cl. 242-130 12 Claims ABSTRACT OF THE DISCLOSURE A bobbin holder for magnetically holding bobbins in an operative position on a winding machine. A dishshaped seat of the holder has a magnet which magnetically couples a magnetic end ring of the bobbin core to the seat. A shunt is operable for shunting the magnetic field to release the bobbin core so that it may be more easily ejected from the seat by tipping a bobbin receiving tube upon movement of the seat from an active or unwinding position toward a reserve position to receive a fresh bobbin. Air passages through the seat communicate with a hollow of the core and facilitate pneumatic end retrieval of the yarn.

This invention relates to winding machines and, more particularly, to a holder for yarn packages.

As used herein the term yarn means any sort of strand ,rnaterial whether textile or otherwise, and the term package means the product of a winding machine, whatever its form.

An environment for the invention is shown in a Leesona Corporation patent of Thomas E. Pitts and Carlton A. Steele, US. 3,048,349 granted Aiig. 7, 1962. This patent discloses a holder or carrier for at least two yarn packages or bobbins. The holder is rotatable about a vertical axis to simultaneously transfer a fresh package from a reserve position to an active (unwinding) position and to eject a spent package previously in the active position. Mounted adjacent a pin type seat for each package is a lift member which is raised to displace the package from its pin, and above each seat is a discharge member (in the form of a "bobbin receiving tube) which is swung outwardly to eject the package from the holder. Both the lift and discharge members are cam operated during the rotation of the carrier. In loading fresh bobbins, a winding machine attendent drops the bobbin onto the seat in the reserve position and arranges the end of yarn in a suitable position for subsequent introduction into the winding operation.

Various other expedients are known for handling yarn "packages on winding machines and include various means such as clamps for holding the bobbins on their seats during automatic end finding operations and subsequent unwinding of the yarn from the bobbin core. Such clamps are likely to damage the cores over a period of time and may grasp and thus prevent removal of the free end of yarn deposited in the hollow core or wound about the foot portion of the core. Depending on the type of auto matic winding equipment being used, this results either in ejecting an otherwise usable bobbin or in stopping operation of the affected winding station.

The invention, in brief, is directed to overcoming these diificulities and to providing a simplified and a more economical and serviceable mechanism, and particularly such mechanism providing automatic bobbin handling for winding machines. As a fresh bobbin is called for, it drops through a tube and onto a seat which includes a magnet for magnetically coupling the bobbin to the seat and thereby effectively preventing lifting of the bobbin from the seat during subsequent yarn end retrieval and unwinding operations. When it is desired to eject the bobbin core from the seat, the magnetic coupling is released by a shunt and the core is slid off of the seat by tilting the tube. Air passages are provided through the seat to facilitate pneumatic recovery of the yarn end of a fresh bobbin from the hollow core.

It is a primary object of this invention to provide a new and improved holder for a yarn package.

Another object is to provide a new and improved yarn package holder which magnetically couples the package to the holder. A related object is provision for shunting the magnetic field to facilitate removal of the bobbin from the holder. Still another related object is provision for the passage of air into a hollow core of the bobbin. A further related object is provision for ejecting the bobbin core from the holder.

These and other objects and advantages of the invention will be apparent from the following description and the accompanying drawing, in which:

FIG. 1 is a fragmentary, schematic elevational view of a portion of a winding machine and shows a bobbin holder between active and reserve positions, with parts broken away and removed for clearer illustration;

FIG. 2 is a fragmentary, enlarged top view taken generally along the line 22 in FIG. 1, and shows a bobbin seat in a shunted position, with parts broken away and removed for clearer illustration;

FIG. 3 is a view similar to FIG. 2, but showing the seat in a coupling (not shunted) position, with parts broken away and removed for clearer illustration; and

FIG. 4 is a fragmentary, enlarged vertical sectional view taken generally along the line 4-4 of FIG. 1 with parts broken away and removed for clearer illustration.

With reference to FIG. 1, a 'bobbin holder 10 for a pair of bobbins is shown moving between reserve and active positions. At the left-hand side of FIG. 1 a fresh bobbin 12 is illustrated in position after it has been dropped through a tube 14 and onto a seat 16- while this seat was in the reserve position. A hollow core 18 of the bobbin 12 is magnetically coupled to the seat 16 to prevent lifting of the bobbin from the seat during retrieval of a yarn end 20 from the hollow core and during subsequent unwinding operations. The right-hand portion of FIG. 1 shows an empty bobbin core 18, after unwinding of the bobbin at the active station, being ejected from its seat 16 by tipping the tube 14 to slide the core off of the seat whereupon it drops out of the tube to suitable receiving means (not shown).

More particularly, a winding machine includes a lower, channel-shaped frame member 22 and thereabove a housing 24, only a small portion being shown at the top of FIG. 1. A vertical shaft 26 is suitably journaled on the channel member 22 and the housing 24 and has its lower end fixedly secured to a bevel gear 28 which mates with a pinion 30 intermittently rotated by a drive shaft 32 responsive to the usual control system of an automatic winding machine to index a fresh bobbin 12 into the active position. Fixed to the vertical shaft 26 above the channel member 22 is a lower horizontal supporting arm 34 which carries a pair of the bobbin holding seats 16, one on either end of the arm.

Each seat 16 has a non-magnetic pedestal 36 of nylon or similar material, suitably fixed at its lower end to the arm 34 with an upwardly facing socket 38 (FIG. 4) at its upper end. This socket receives a cylindrical, permanent magnet 40 which is fixed therein in any suitable manner, for example as by a screw 42 passing through the magnet and into the pedestal 36. The illustrated magnet 40 has six poles 44 extending upwardly from a base 46 and the top faces 48 of the poles 44 are preferably facially aligned in a horizontal plane. Each magnet is provided with a shunt 50 in the form of a flat, circular magnetic member having a cutout center portion to provide six fingers 52 extending inwardly from a circular peripheral edge portion 54 of the member. Inner faces 56 (FIG. 4) of these teeth ride on the top faces 48 of the magnet 40 and the peripheral edge portion 54 is spaced above the top edge 58 of the pedestal socket 38. When the magnet 40 is shunted, opposite edge portions of each tooth 52 rest on edge portions of adjacent pole faces 48, thus shunting the adjacent poles 44 through the magnetic teeth. The shunt may be rotated to a coupling position (FIG. 3) so that each tooth rests on but one pole face 48, whereupon a magnetic object resting on top or outer faces 60 of the teeth is magnetically coupled to the magnet 40. The teeth connecting portions of the peripheral edge portion 54 of the shunt are sufiiciently small so that the magnetic flux carried therethrough in the coupling position, is negligible.

Rotation of the shunt 50 is provided by a radially extending tab 62 of the shunt which passes through an aperture 64 in a hollow cylindrical neck 66 of a non-magnetic cover member 68, also of nylon or the like, telescoped about the pedestal socket. This aperature is sized to provide free vertical movement of the tab 62 While closely fitting the tab horizontally, so that as the cover member 68 is rotated the shunt 50 is similarly rotated. Rotation of the cover member 68 is provided by an operating assembly 70 which includes an operating arm 72 pivoted about a horizontal pin 74 received in upstanding fingers 76 integral with the lower horizontal arm 34. A torsion spring 77 about the pivot pin 74 has one end seated against the arm 72 and an opposite end seated against a finger 76 to urge the arm 72 to the position shown in the left of FIG. 1. At an end of the pivoted operating arm 72 opposite the pivot pin 74 is an upstanding plate 78 having an inclined cam slot 80 (FIG. 4) which slidably receives a pin 82 fixed to and extending radially from the sidewall of the cover member 68. A depending cam follower 84 of the operating arm 72 rides along an edge 86 of a plate cam 88 concentric with the vertical shaft 26 and fixed to the channel member 22 as by a sleeve 90. As the vertical shaft 26 is rotated and the cam follower 84 rides across a lobe of the plate cam 88, the pivoted arm 72 is swung upwardly from the coupling position shown in the left-hand portion of FIG. 1, to the position shown in the right-hand portion of FIG. 1, thus pivoting the shunt 50 to the shunting position as shown best in FIG. 2.

Noting that FIG. 1 shows the bobbin holder moving between the reserve and active positions, when one of the seats 16 enters the reserve position a bobbin 12 is dropped through the tube 14, either automatically as through a chute or manually by a winding machine attendent. A magnetic ring 92 (FIG. 1) such as steel, on the end of the bobbin core 18 drops onto an annular flange 94 diverging upwardly and outwardly from the top of the cylindrical neck 66 of the cover member 68. Thus, the ring 92 is guided onto the top faces 60 of the shunt teeth 52 which are in their coupling position so that the ring 92, and therefore the core 18, is magnetically coupled to the magnet 40 which is part of the seat 16. It should be noted that the inner portion of the annular flange 94 is just slightly larger than the ring 92 to assure centering of the bobbin 12 on the seat 16, and overlies the peripheral edge 54 of the shunt 50 and is substantially even with the top faces 60 of the shunt teeth 52. As a seat 16 is rotated from its reserve position to its active position, the shunt 50 is preferably moved to its coupling position, but, if desired, may be retained in the shunting position until the seat moves from reserve toward active position.

An upper, horizontal supporting arm 96 is fixed to the vertical shaft 26 for rotation therewith. This arm is bifurcated at its outer ends 98 which have notches 100 to receive opposite horizontal pivot pins 102 of an annular collar 104. The collar 104 is rigidly secured to the tube 14 and upon rotation from the active position to the reserve position an upstanding cam finger 106 of the collar rides across a depending lobe 108 of an upper cam 110 which is concentric with the vertical shaft 26 and fixedly secured to the winding machine housing 29, as by spacers 112. Thus the tube 14 is pivoted to slide the core ring 92 oif the shunt 50, up the flange 94 and thus off of the seat 16. It should be noted that the magnet 50 is first shunted and then the tube 14 is pivoted to discharge the core 18.

In order to facilitate pneumatic retrieval of the yarn end 20 from the hollow core 18, the seat 16 is provided with air passages which include aligned aperatures 114 and 116 (FIG. 4) in the cylindrical neck 66 and socket 38, opening into the gaps between the poles 44 of the magnet 50 and the open center of the shunt 50.

While this invention has been described with reference to a particular embodiment in a particular environment, various changes may he apparent to one skilled in the art and the invention is therefore not to be limited to such embodiment or environment except as set forth in the appended claims.

What is claimed is:

1. A yarn package holder for a package having a core, comprising, a seat for receiving the core, said seat including retaining means for magnetically coupling the core to the seat and for releasing the magnetic coupling, said retaining means including a magnet to effect said magnetic coupling and a shunt mounted relative to said magnet for movement between a coupling position in which said magnet is operative for effecting said magnetic coupling and a shunting position in which the magnets field is shunted for releasing the magnetic coupling.

2. A holder as set forth in claim 1 in which said magnet is a permanent magnet having generally facially aligned poles, and said shunt moves facially across said poles between said coupling and shunting positions.

3. A holder as set forth in claim 2 in which said shunt has opposite faces, one adjacent said magnet and an outer face facing outwardly from said magnet for receiving the core.

4. A holder as set forth in claim 3 in which said seat is mounted for movement between a reserve position and an active position of the package, and means for operating said shunt between its positions upon movement of said seat between its positions.

5. A holder as set forth in claim 4 in which the operating means moves said shunt from its coupling position to its shunting position as said seat moves between its active position and its reserve position.

6. A holder as set forth in claim 3 in which said seat includes a surface substantially encircling and diverging from said outer face of said shunt and therewith forming a generally dish-shaped seat for receiving the core.

7. A holder as set forth in claim 1 in which said retaining means includes magnetic means having a face portion adapted to receive said core, and said seat includes a surface substantially encircling and diverging from said face portion and therewith forming a generally dishshaped seat for receiving the core.

8. A yarn package holder for a package having a core, comprising, a seat for receiving the core, said seat including retaining means for magnetically coupling the core to the seat and for releasing said magnetic coupling, and handling means for removing the core form the seat.

9. A holder as set forth in claim 8 in which said handling means comprises a tube, and means mounting said tube for movement from a receiving position aligned with said seat for guiding the core onto said seat, to a discharge position out of alignment with said seat for ejecting the core from the seat.

10. A holder as set forth in claim 9 in which said tube is above said seat in said receiving position for downward passage of said core through the tube and onto said seat, and said seat is vertically stationary and constructed for sliding movement of the core thereon as said tube moves to said discharge position, whereby the core drops from the seat and out of said tube.

11. A holder as set forth in claim 10 in which said core has a longitudinally extending passage therethrough and a magnetic ring concentrically secured to an open end of the core, said retaining means includes a permanent magnet having upwardly facing facially aligned poles to effect said magnetic coupling and a shunt mounted above said magnet for movement between a coupling position in which said magnet is operative for effecting said coupling and a shunting position in which the magnets field is shunted for releasing the magnetic coupling, said shunt has opposite faces, one adjacent the poles of said magnet and an upper face facing outwardly from said magnet for receiving the ring, said sheet includes a non-magnetic member having an upwardly opening socket receiving said magnet and a surface substantially encircling and diverging upwardly from said upper face of said shunt and therewith forming a generally dish-shaped seat for receiving the ring, said surface where adjacent said upper face of said shunt being substantially even with the upper face to facilitate said core sliding thereacross, said receiver, said magnet and said shunt having cooperating means for the passage of air therethrough and into the hollow of the core, and said seat is mounted for movement between a reserve position and an active position, and means for moving said shunt from its coupling position to its shunting position and thereafter moving said tube from its receiving position to its discharge position as said seat moves between its active position and its reserve positon, to eject the core.

12. A holder as set forth in claim 8 including means for the passage of a fluid through said seat and into said core.

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 

